Bonded
by hergoldeneyes
Summary: Tonks asked a favor of Mad-Eye, and he couldn't say no. Tonks and Lupin's wedding, just before the Battle Over Little Whinging.


**This was written to earn House Points in this Harry Potter guild I'm in, but I kind of liked it, so I decided to post it here, as well. Hope you guys like it more than I do :3**

"Oh, Moody, please say you'll do it."

Alastor Moody looked down at Tonks, his eye swerving in its socket. He checked his watch, then looked back at Nymphadora. Her eyes were scrunched up in hopeful anticipation.

"Please, Alastor," she pleaded, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "In this war, who knows how much time we'll have? I don't want to die - "

"Don't talk that way, Nymphadora!" he scolded her. "As long as you maintain constant vigilance, you'll survive for many years after this blasted war."

Tonks' hair flared red for a second when he used her first name, then returned to the blue it had been before.

"I'll do it," Mad-Eye grunted. "But we have to be fast. The Weasleys, Kingsley, and the Delacour and Granger girl will already be waiting at the secret location. You have rings, I presume?"

"Why, yes, we do." Tonks rummaged in her pocket. She dropped two gold bands into Moody's hand. "They were my parents' rings."

"They'll do," he said. "Gather everyone in the living room. I'll be there in a moment."

Tonks knew of Moody's distaste for affection, but she couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around her mentor's neck and giving him a peck on the cheek. Her hair changed to her favorite bubblegum pink as she fled from the kitchen.

She flew into the room Remus was occupying at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Remus!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms. "He agreed! Mad-Eye agreed to marry us!"

She looked up into the face of her love. The war was aging him significantly. He was paler than normal, and looked as though he were carrying a ton or two on each of his shoulders. She, however, would still always see the man she'd met when she first joined the Order, and his love for her reflected in his eyes.

"When?" he asked wearily. Of course he was happy. He loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone, but he couldn't help but wonder if marrying her was the right choice, especially with the anti-werewolf legislation having been put into effect.

"Now," she told him. "Before we head to meet the others. Remember, my mum gave me her and Father's rings just the other day. We can use those, and Hagrid and Fletcher will act as witnesses!" Her arms tightened around him. "Oh, Remus, isn't it wonderful?"

"Wonderful, indeed," he said, stroking her hair. He pulled away from her, and immediately noticed her eye color was changing every couple seconds with the force of her happiness. "Love, are you sure you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?" she said, trying to close the distance between them again. He took a step back. "Of course I want to do this. I love you, Remus." She lifted one of her hands to stroke his cheek. "Nothing the Ministry or the rest of the Wizarding World says will ever change that."

She squinted her eyes as she looked at him. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and taking shallow breaths. "Are _you _sure you want to do this?" she asked him.

"No," he said. "No, frankly, I'm not."

"I thought you loved me," she said tentatively.

"I do!" he yelled. "Of course I do, Dora, don't you ever question that! I love you, and that's exactly why I don't know if this is the right thing to do."

Her lips found his, and he silenced immediately. His fingers found her hair, weaving themselves in and bringing her closer to him. She pulled back, smiling and running her own fingers through his hair.

"This is the right thing," she said softly. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you - _bonded _to you - no matter how short a life that may be."

He looked away from her. With two fingers placed firmly on his chin, she made him look at her again.

"If I die today in the battle over Little Whinging," she said, "I want to die married to you."

"You won't die," Remus said. "I won't be letting that happen."

"Please, darling," Tonks said. "I love you, and if you loved me, you would marry me."

"Alright," he said, sighing heavily. "I will happily take you as my wife."

Tonks grinned and craned her neck to kiss him again, before taking his hand and hurrying him to the living room, where Mundungus, Hagrid, and Moody were already waiting.

"Took you long enough," Mad-Eye snorted. "Arthur just sent his Patronus to say they just arrived at the secret location." Tonks rolled her eyes at the way he referred to Arabella Figg's house as 'the secret location,' as though there were a Death Eater around to hear. "If we keep them waiting too long, it might ruin the plan. We must be punctual."

"Of course, Moody," Tonks said. "And if you keep talking, it might ruin our chances at being _punctual._"

"Right," Moody said, straightening up and hitting his staff on the wood floor. "Dora, give the rings to Hagrid, and Remus; you stand right here." He indicated a spot with his staff. Remus walked over stiffly, and Tonks joined him a second later, looking far more enthusiastic than he did.

"Alright," Moody grunted. "Here it goes. We are gathered here today to - "

"Oh, Alastor, can we get straight to the point, please?" Tonks said, smiling. She squeezed Remus' hand. "I think we'd all rather just get on with it."

"Right, then." He coughed into his hand. "Alright. Hagrid, rings, please."

Hagrid walked up hurriedly and handed a ring to Tonks, and then one to Lupin. Tonks could see the tears in his eyes, and the smile she gave him only made him let out a sob and hurry back to his seat.

"Remus Lupin, do you take Nymphadora Tonks to be your lawfully wedded wife?" A no-nonsense question, free of the unnecessary "to love and to hold" additive.

"I do," he said, and though Tonks knew he wasn't particularly excited about marrying her for a multitude of reasons, his love for her was imminent in the way he looked down at her as Moody spoke. He slipped the ring onto her finger, and tears welled in Tonks' eyes.

"And Nymphadora Tonks, do you take Remus Lupin to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Tonks choked out.

"Right, then," Moody said gruffly. "Now, if you would take out your wands."

Remus and Tonks made identical movements and held their wands above their heads, touching the tips together, while they kept their free hands entwined.

Moody pulled out his own wand, and with an unspoken incantation, made both the wands in front of him turn to sticks of pure light for a moment. The couple could practically feel the magic bonding them to one another.

"Then, by the power vested in me by myself, and, I suppose, the Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Mad-Eye looked to Lupin. "You may now kiss - "

Their lips crashed against one another's before Alastor finished speaking. They molded to each other in a way that made everyone in the room forget about the horrible war going on around them, and forced them to focus on only the love between the pair.

Hagrid stood in the back, bawling his eyes out into a handkerchief far too small for his large hands and eyes. Fletcher managed a smile for Tonks, his old friend, but kept his gaze as far from Mad-Eye as he could.

As for Moody, he had to remind himself that tearing up was _not _a very manly thing to do, for the fact that the young girl he'd met at the Auror office so long ago was now a grown woman, and officially married, was proving to be a bit too much for even him to handle. As hard as he tried to remain gruff and stiff, a smile found its way across his face.

After a few moments, Moody snapped back to reality and coughed to break up the couple.

"Now," he said, stalking off toward the kitchen. "We better hurry, or our Portkey will leave without us."

Fletcher followed behind him cautiously, and after another loud blow of his nose, so did Hagrid.

Remus squeezed his new wife's hand, looking happier and more filled with life than he had since the pair had met. Tonks stood on the tips of her toes to give him a peck on the lips one more time.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" she teased.

Remus laughed a laugh that was, to his surprise, utterly genuine.

"_Nymphadora_!" Moody yelled from the kitchen. "Remus! The Portkey!"

The couple ran to the kitchen to find that the old spatula was already glowing blue, and touched their hands to it just in time.

Even through the nauseating experience of traveling by Portkey, Remus and Tonks' fingers remained entwined, with both of them feeling ready to take on anything in the world, because so long as they were together, nothing could harm them.

Not even Voldemort himself.


End file.
